She suddenly sat upright, and once again, reached for her nightstand and turned the light on. The etched sun. It was the one thing she didn’t fully think out what it could mean. The killer had been striking at night it seemed, so maybe it was a clue to the time of day he would strike next. But that almost seemed too easy, and Tara wondered if there was a deeper or double meaning to the image.

She reached for her laptop, went to Google, and held her fingers over the keyboard. Setting sun, Hanover. She didn’t quite know what she was searching for, but thought of any way to make a connection and let her fingers type in response.

She scrolled through the results. Mostly images of setting suns and places to watch the sunset. She decided to search a larger area. Setting sun, New Hampshire. Setting sun, Vermont. She searched over and over, narrowing down by town and then expanding. She dug up pictures and looked for anything suspicious. She dug up places—anything she could find related to the area.

But each search result was insignificant, and her eyes eventually fell heavy and she decided to lay her head down for just a moment. But sleep quickly washed over. She couldn’t fight it anymore and her mind drifted off.

***

Darkness surrounded her except for the sliver of light above. She looked up at the moon, illuminating with such intensity. Tall pine trees scraped the sky, scattered every way she looked. Everything looked black—like shadows—in the darkness. For a moment she felt protected by them. As if their tall trunks and sharp needles shielded her from all that was negative in the world.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the strong aroma of pine needles. The smell was so strong, it was unnatural, but it caused her to relax.

But then she heard something. It was a sound she’d heard before and her heart picked up speed as she realized what it was. A scream. It was faint at first, but then grew louder. It was her mother’s voice and Tara frantically looked in all directions, trying to determine where it was coming from. But she couldn’t see too well in the darkness and the sound echoed off of the trees.

She then realized where she was as she looked down and saw that her feet stood on a trail laid out in front of her. She walked down it and the screams grew louder.

She picked up speed, running faster and faster. She was so close, she could feel it, and then suddenly the screaming stopped. She slowed down and stood quietly as she looked around her.

“Where are you?” she screamed, but the forest returned no sound and she stood motionless on the path.

And all of a sudden, the forest did not feel safe. The trees’ tall trunks felt like barriers and she wished she could tear them all down just to have a clear view of what was behind them.